RC 63 / NHTSA 18V-040 – Takata Passenger Airbag Module – 2013 Ferrari

January 9, 2018

Passenger Frontal Air Bag Inflator May Explode

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

 

NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V040

Manufacturer Ferrari North America, Inc.

Components AIR BAGS

Potential Number of Units Affected 1,899

 

Summary

On January 9, 2018 Ferrari North America, Inc. (Ferrari) recalled 1,073 model year 2013 California, 458 Italia, 458 Spider, FF, and F12 Berlinetta vehicles sold, or ever registered in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

On May 18, 2018, Ferrari expanded the recall to include an additional 826 model year 2013 California, 458 Italia, 458 Spider, FF, and F12 Berlinetta vehicles located throughout the rest of the United States.

These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.

 

Remedy

Ferrari will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag assembly, free of charge. The recall began March 1, 2018 for the original population. The recall will begin in June 2018 for the expanded population. Owners may contact Ferrari customer service at 1-866-551-2828. Ferrari’s number for this recall is 63.

 

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

 

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Takata Passenger Airbag Module

 

IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL

This notice applies to your vehicle (VIN: ZFFXXXXXXXXXXXXXX).

RC 63 / NHTSA 18V-040

 

 

Dear [Mr. John Doe],

 

This notice is sent to you in accordance with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

Ferrari has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain Model Year 2013 458 Italia, 458 Spider, California, FF, and F12 berlinetta vehicles equipped with a passenger-side front airbag manufactured and supplied by Takata Corporation. We want to assure you that your safety is our priority, and we are committed to correcting this  condition in your vehicle.

Takata has reported that the passenger side front airbag could explode in vehicles involved in an incident in which the frontal airbags deploy. This risk is due to propellant degradation which may occur after long-term exposure to high temperatures, high absolute humidity and high temperature cycling causing the inflator to explode in deployment. Sharp metal fragments may pass through the airbag striking vehicle occupants, leading to serious injury or death.

Our records show that you are the owner of a vehicle affected by this recall.

 

IMPORTANT – CONTACT YOUR DEALER TODAY 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the impacted vehicle manufacturers, including Ferrari, are prioritizing Takata airbag repairs to ensure that vehicles with airbags that pose a higher risk to safety are fixed first while simultaneously working to ensure that parts are available to repair every affected vehicle as quickly as possible. Based on NHTSA’s criteria, your vehicle has been selected for this recall.

Final replacement airbags are now available in your area. Please make an appointment with your nearest dealer to have the FREE repair performed on your vehicle. 

Ferrari will repair your vehicle free of charge. The repair involves replacing the Passenger Frontal Airbag Module. Please contact your Ferrari dealer at this time and make an appointment to have this repair performed. The time needed for this repair is estimated to be between 2 and 5 hours depending on the model; however, your dealer may need to keep your vehicle for a longer period of time. Please be prepared to leave your vehicle with your dealer for at least a full day.

Please also note that only the passenger frontal airbag is affected by this recall.   The driver’s frontal  airbag is unaffected. 

If you have any questions or concerns that your dealer is unable to resolve, please contact Ferrari North America, Inc. at +1(201) 816-2668.  If your Dealer or Ferrari is unable to remedy the defect without charge or within a reasonable amount of time, you may submit a complaint to the Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E., Washington, DC 20590, call the toll-free Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153), or go to https://www.safercar.gov.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

 

Technical Department Ferrari North America, Inc.

 

PLEASE NOTE:  Federal law requires that any vehicle lessor receiving this recall notice must forward a copy of this notice to the lessee by First Class Mail within ten business days.

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4 Affected Products

Vehicles

MAKE	MODEL	YEAR
FERRARI	458	2013
FERRARI	CALIFORNIA	2013
FERRARI	F12 BERLINETTA	2013
FERRARI	FF	2013

 

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9 Associated Documents

Recall 573 Report

RCLRPT-18V040-1861.pdf 219.664KB

 

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Recall Acknowledgement

RCAK-18V040-7372.pdf 245.916KB

 

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ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RCONL-18V040-3066.pdf 25.148KB

 

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Remedy Instructions and TSB

RCRIT-18V040-5380.pdf 982.696KB

 

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Recall 573 Report – AMENDMENT 1

RCLRPT-18V040-3057.PDF 219.956KB

 

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ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RCONL-18V040-8015.pdf 25.114KB

 

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Recall Quarterly Report #1, 2018-1

RCLQRT-18V040-7936.PDF 214.522KB

 

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Recall Quarterly Report #2, 2018-2

RCLQRT-18V040-3019.PDF 214.631KB

 

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Recall Quarterly Report #4, 2018-4

RCLQRT-18V040-6976.PDF 211.451KB

 

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1 Associated Investigation

Air Bag Inflator Rupture
NHTSA ID: EA15001
Dated opened: February 24, 2015

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers. All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.

During the course of PE14-016, ODI determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by Takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers. Nonetheless, at ODI’s insistence, all 10 vehicle manufacturers initiated a regional recall within approximately two weeks of the opening of the investigation. The regions recalled initially included Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, areas with high absolute humidity and climatic conditions believed to be a significant factor in the inflator ruptures. As part of the recall actions, inflators removed from remedied vehicles are to be returned to Takata for testing.

Takata’s initial test results on passenger inflators from remedied vehicles indicated a much higher than anticipated rupture frequency for inflators returned from Florida. Accordingly ODI requested all 10 manufacturers expand the regional recalls for passenger inflators to include other geographic areas where high absolute humidity conditions exist, including the Gulf States and other coastal areas. Takata’s testing of the passenger inflators to date continues to indicate this geographic area as having the highest risk, with no ruptures occurring from inflators returned from outside the expanded recall regions. During PE14-016 four additional passenger inflator field events occurred, all in vehicles from the same expanded geographic region.

Also during PE14-016 four additional driver inflator field events occurred including two in vehicles from regions not known for high absolute humidity, specifically California and North Carolina. Accordingly, ODI requested all five of the affected vehicle manufacturers currently using the subject Takata driver inflators expand to nationwide recalls. Significantly, neither of the affected vehicle manufacturers or Takata provided any explanation to account for these two driver air bag inflator ruptures outside the area of high absolute humidity. Takata testing of returned driver inflators indicates a lower rupture frequency as compared to passenger inflator testing. All test ruptures reported by Takata to date have occurred on inflators returned from high absolute humidity areas.

The investigation now includes all manufacturers and vehicles known to be affected at this time. ODI’s investigation will focus on, among other things, root cause analysis, other potential defect consequences, identification of affected vehicles scope, and adequacy of the remedy.

The five ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification numbers: 10537899, 10568848, 10585224, 10605877, 10651492

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Recalls Documents

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/documentList.xhtml?docId=18V040&docType=RCL

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